ransom



vAND 659W. GRAVES,

' ZZor/zey Patented Mayv25, 1880.

I Il'f S. H. RANSOM 8v G. W. GRAVES.

' l* uf/11.Y

Wai/essex UNITED STATES PATENT OEFicE.,

SAMUEL H. RANSOM AND GEORGE W. GRAVES, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNORS TO RANSOM STOVE WORKS, OF SAME PLAGE.

STOV E-G RATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,924, dated May 25,1880.

Application nieu January e, leso. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SAMUEL H. RANsoM and GEORGE W. GRAVES, of the cityand county of Albany, and State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stove-Grates, ofwhich the following is a full and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich-- y 1o Figure l is a plan view of ourimproveinent, and Fig. 2 avertical section of same at the line a x.

This invention relates to stoves having circular nre-pots, andespecially to the class known as magazineand base burners. In thatclassof stoves the fuel falls from the magazine onto the re in coniformlayers, which become successively ignited and are consumed whileretaining that form. The ashes and lighter dzo bris resulting fromtheburning of .these layers of fuel naturally fall outward against thefirepot, where they not only retard combustion at that part, but, byinterposing a non-conducting body, they also intercept the passage ofthe heat from the burning fuel through the nre-pot. The clinliers andother heavy dbris produced from the burned fuel remain in the centralpart of the fire and aid in maintaining the conical form of the layersof fuel be- 3o fore referred to. This central mass, while it ispractically incombustible, becomes heated to such an intense degree thatits heat assists in keeping up the combustion of the surrounding fuel.In order to produce a very active 3 5 combustion of the fuel lying atthe circumference of the lire, the accretion of ashes must be removedfrom that portion of the iire, which, from its proximity to theradiating-surface of the fire-pot, is the most effective for produc- 4oing heat. The fuel at the center or core of the fire, from itsremoteness from the radiating-surface-of the fire-pot, fails to producean effect of equal intensity to that of the outer portion, and if atardy combustion, that will keep the mass heated, `as hereinbeforedescribed, can be maintained near the center, while an active combustionis kept up at the outer portion of the fire, the greatest degree ofeconomy in the consumption of fuel will be 5o obtained To produce thiseffect it is indispensable that the ashes should be removed from theouter portion of the fire to admit the air for supporting combustionfreely thereto, and in effecting this removal the core of the fire mustremain undisturbed, so that its dormant condition will be maintained.

The object of our invention is to effect the removal of the ashes fromthe outer portion of the ire in the manner above described, and, whennecessary, to remove the heavy dbris 6o from the center withoutdisturbing the outer portion of the ire; and to his end our inventionconsists in combining with a main or central grate having a cuttingmovement reaching above the lowest part of the iire, whereby the heavydbris can betaken out of the core of the re by a positive movement ofthe central grate without affecting the fuel and ashes lying` contiguousto the tire-pot, an annular grate which surrounds the said cen- 7o tralgrate, and by which theashes may be removed from the fuel lying againstthe repot, the two grates being adjoined to constitute one fire-bed, butso arranged that each shall be capable only of a separate movemententirely independent of the other-that is to say, the two are incapableof any conjunctive movement.

As shown in the drawings, A is the bedpiece or frame, adapted to receiveboth grates 5 8o B, the central or main grate, which, as illustrated inthe drawings, consists of the grate patented by Samuel Smyth, October2l, 1873 5 but, as any other form of grate that is adapted to cut outthe dbris from the center 8 5 of the nre in the manner hereinbeforedescribed may be substituted therefor, we do not conne ourselves to thisparticular form. Said central grate forms a bed for supporting thecentral portion or core of the re, and for 9o that purpose it should bemade about four inches less in diameter than the bottom of the fire-pot,and it should be constructed to take out the lower part of the centralportion of the superincumbent mass with a positive cut- 9 5 tingmovement without affecting the outer portion of the fuel lying next tothe tire-pot.

C is an annular grate surrounding the grate B and extendingto the outerdiameter of the lower end of the nre-pot.

Said annular grate, 10o.

as shown in Figl 2, lies slightly above the top of the central grate,and, as We preferably make it, is composed of concentric rings c, Whoseupper faces are cut into radial corrugations. Said rings are connectedtogether by the radial bars c', and the outer ring is provided withoffset ears c2, which support the grate G clear of the bed-piece A. Ahead, c3, or other s uitable appliance is cast on or attached to thegrate C, for the purpose of receiving a handle for shaking the grate.

D denotes clips or snugs secured to the bedpiece A, and bearing againstthe outer edges of the ears c2 to maintain the centrality of the annulargrate. Said clips are provided with lips d, that overlap the ears c2 andprevent the grate from rising from its place.

The dotted lines in Fig. 2 indicate the lower end of the circularfire-pot, and show the relative position of the said fire-pot andgrates.

rlhe mode of operating our improvement is as follows: As often asnecessity requires, or about once in two or three days, the accumulationof heavy dbris at the center or core of the fire should be removed bymeans of the grate .B in the manner hereinbefore described. Ineffect-ing this the annular grate C and the fuel lying thereon remainundisturbed. The efect of this cleansing is to create a rapid combustionof the central mass of fuel, which continues until accretion of dbrischeeks it. This intense combustion, While it rapidly consumes the fuel,does not produce an equiva-4 lent radiation .of heat; but thisoccasional cleansing of the central part of the fire is required toprevent an over-accumulation of ashes and dbris at that point. At morefrequent intervals, oras often as it becomes necessary to produce anincrease of heat, the annular grate C should be vibrated to clean outthe ashes from the fuel lying against the iirepot. In effecting this athin layer ot' fresh fuel is fed down to till the space left by thedisplaced ashes, and the cleansed fire at that part has ample spaces forthe passage of air to support the high degree of combustion that ismaintained in the outer stratum of fuel, which, from its contact withthe fire-pot, keeps it (the lire-pot) in a hi ghly-heated condition toradiate an intense heat with a comparatively slight consumption of fuel.

We are aware that stove-grates have heretofore been made with acentralgrate-adapted to cutting ont the central portion of the spent fuel abovethe plane of a surrounding annular grate, with which the central gratewas combined 5 but in that construction the central grate is alonecapable of receiving' an independent movement, the two grates being soconnected together that in shaking the annular grate a like movementmust be imparted to the central grate, thereby effecting an agitation ofthe entire mass of superincumbent fuel, and by so doing defeating rthevery object that our invention is designed to attain. Annular grateshave also been used in combination with a flat supplemental grate placedbeneath the central opening of the annular grate, and each of the gratesarranged to receive an independent motion, the annular. grate heiligadapted to vibrate in a horizontal plane With a partial rotatormovement, and the central one to move lateraly in a horizontal planefrombeneath the central opening of the annular grate. This latterconstruction is manifestly lacking in the important feature ot' thepositive cutting mov-einen tof the central grate above the plane of theannular grate found in our invention.

We do not claim as our invention either the central grate, B, or theannular grate C when separately considered but We claim as ourinvention- The combination, with a central grate, B, whereby the dbrismay be cutaway from the central part of the re by a positive movement ofthe parts of said grate in the manner herein set forth, of the annulargrate C, arranged in relation to the grate B as herein described, bothot' said grates being adapted to move independently of each other, butnot conjointly, as herein specified.

SAML. H. RANSOM. GEO. W. GRAVES.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. LOW, J onL R. RANsoM.

